From: mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,rec.arts.books,alt.security.pgp,alt.cyberpunk,rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Cylex: the new cyber-lexicon Date: 23 Dec 1993 16:44:16 -0500 Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation This is the best paper produced in the class I taught at the School of Visual Arts this fall. The student's name is Antoinette LaFarge. "Cylex" is reprinted with permission. Feel free to use the words. --------- DDB2030.12.17.20:20:21GMT Homebase: ~U.S. Government Publishing Office. Download to: Mike Godwin, Electronic Frontier Foundation. Status: digsig not verifiedÑno-interrupt. Checklist: autolott yesÑupdate yesÑimages noÑdtp format noÑsearch yes (art, pub, law)Ñupdate editor: Antoinette LaFarge. Filename: *Cylex* File begin: Note on usage: *boldface* type indicates word being defined; _italic_ type indicates word defined elsewhere in Cylex or used as an example. *Antilex*: (n) a variant on _Cylex_Ê published by a shifting coalition of _e-pubs_Ê who feel that Cylex is often both inaccurate (because slanted toward the government viewpoint) and out of date. *autolott*: (n) short for *auto*mated *lott*ery, this is the standard form of lottery now run by most major companies, the federal government, and all state governments except Utah. Most digital transfers now automatically cause the destination/recipient to be encoded and dropped into a lottery pool, from which prize drawings are then made. This form of lottery, in which one does not have to actively play to win, is an outgrowth of the credit-card pools of the 1990s. Autolotts were devised in part as a corporate marketing method to get around the highly successful _doorman_ programs. *black bank*: (n) an underground institution for generating and distributing digital signatures outside the government-approved three-bank scheme. Black banks tend to be small and to go in and out of business quickly as they are usually unable to sustain the integrity of their security schemes and thus can lose all their business literally overnight. Although not technically illegal, they cater to an amorphous and shifting population of criminals and _clans_ who for one reason or another don't trust the integrity of the national digital-signature scheme. The Russian, South African, Korean, and Caribbean mafias are all known to run their own black banks. *bureaucrat*: (n) obsolete; see _hulk_. *bodyguard*: (n) general term covering localized software that searches out and destroys viruses, worms, trojan horses, scavengers, and other net wildlife. The U.S. government has imposed severe restrictions on bodyguards to ensure that they don't run loose in the net. (See also: _cannibal, hulk._) *borden*: (n) any nondigital object that figures as evidence in a legal proceeding, especially under criminal law. Since most legal proceedings are now carried out entirely in cyberspace, lawyers have largely lost the ability to sway juries by showing them physical evidence of crimes. In cases where such evidence is important, prosecutors (rarely defense lawyers) often pursue strategies to get the case transferred from cyberspace to real- space courtrooms. Hence (v) _to borden_ means to obtain or try to obtain such a change of venue. The word derives indirectly from the bloodstained ax that played such a prominent role in the conviction of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her parents. See also the phrase: _borden of proof_. *cannibal*: (n) a special form of _bodyguard_ that will wipe out everything on its home computer net, including itself, once activated. Popular among criminals for destroying digital evidence beyond the possibility of recovery, they can be set to react to time delays, improper logons, remotes, and other tripwires. There are a number of different types of cannibal, only a few of which are dangerous to humans. Those incorporating explosives are known as _challengers_ (in reference to an early space shuttle that blew up, taking out seven astronauts in the process), while those causing electrocution of the person trying to access the data are known as _headhunters_. *cat-tag*: (n) a digital signature for corporations and other businesses; legally required for all business e-mail and data transfers over the net. The word is a short form of "catalog tag" and also probably a back-formation from _dogtag._ Cat-tags came into use after the first flood of digital junk mail; the ensuing consumer protests brought about the adoption of cat- tags that could be screened by _doorman_ programs. The government used the controversy to institute compulsory registration of digital signatures in so-called _name banks_. Cat-tags are handled by one of the three major signature banks, the First National Name Bank (a subsidiary of Citicorp). *clan*: (n) a type of on-line voluntary organization formed among private individuals to exchange information and pursue group activities in a limited forum. The word is an acronym whose expansion is disputed; according to most authorities it stands for *c*ompound *l*ocal *a*rea *n*etwork, but popular etymology usually gives it as short for *c*ol*la*borative *n*et. Clans sprang up in the wake of the Clinton administration's disastrous health care reform and the information deluge released in cyberspace by the gradual dismantling of the copyright laws. In order to reassert control over the quality of information, advice, and services given and received, people spontaneously started forming small, tightly knit groups on the net, usually in the form of _lockout_ forums. Typically, a clan is started by a few close friends, and over time they gradually lock in new members of complementary professions. For example, a group that had no doctor member would recruit someone compatible from the on-line and/or off-line community. However, there are also highly specialized clans, such as the craft clans and the _Tertians_. Some clans have membership fees, but most work primarily on a barter system, such that members work a certain numbers of hours a year for each other. It is considered a mark of status to be recruited by a prestigious clan. *Cylex*: (n) the on-line lexicon of slang continuously published and updated by the U.S. government in accordance with a 2003 mandate of Congress. In a series of landmark discrimination cases, it was argued that since slang is such a vital aspect of cyberspace life, anyone who couldn't master it is effectively excluded from large parts of the net. Moreover, the speed with which net slang evolves serves to bar anyone who isn't a net regular. Hence, Cylex was set up as a _tilde_ resource to equalize access to the net. It can be downloaded by anyone, at any time. In theory, it is kept up to date; however, the true lag time is considered to be between six and eight weeks. In addition, there are always pockets of long-term ex- Cylex slang on the net; these tend to be formed by people who intentionally use slang (rather than encryption) as an exclusionary method and actively resist having their terms become transparent to Cylex. Since Cylex depends greatly on volunteers (its paid staff is small and the project is permanently underfunded), it is not difficult for determined groups to keep personal slang Cylex-opaque for relatively long periods. *DD*: (n, a) acronym for *d*ownload *d*ate, usually given in numerals in the form DDyear.month.day.hour:minute:secondGMT. The standard international dating procedure on the net, it is sometimes extended to include fractions of a second. DDs are normally the first term in any downloaded data and may be further subdivided into _DDB_ (*d*ownload *d*ate *b_egin, at the start of transmission) and _DDE_ (*download *d*ate *e*nd, at the end of transmission). "Created on" dates are still sometimes seen, especially attached to certain fixed forms of artwork, but are considered obsolete because unverifiable. (See also: _genealogy, sourcing_). *digsig*: (n) semi-official slang for *dig*ital *sig*nature; the U.S. government in particular avoids the use of the otherwise universal _dogtag_. *diy forgery*: (n) 1. a plan, diagram, or other type of instruction for making and/or performing artworks issued by artists themselves, usually through the _Municipal Dump_. 2. an object or process created using such instructions. Most artists do not actually make objects anymore but simply register the plans and/or instructions with the MD, which holds them in a database and distributes them at a nominal charge. One popular activity is to combine several different sets of diy forgery, either simultaneously or sequentially. (See also: _kunstmorph_.) Diy forgeries (short for *d*o-*i*t-*y*ourself *forgeries*) are sometimes referred to as authorized forgeries. *dogtag*: (n) slang for digital signature generally, derived from the military slang for tags recording one's identification number. Usually used to refer to digital signatures of individuals, while _cat-tag is reserved for business-related digital signatures. Dogtags are handled by two of the three major signature banks, the _Federal Name Repository_ (under the Federal Reserve Bank) and 21st Century Names (a subsidiary of Time Warner). *doorman*: (n) a computer program used to screen incoming data, especially e-mail and junk mail, for unwanted items. Doormen became popular after the federal government began to deliver subpoenas electronically and disputes arose over the point at which an e-subpoena could be said to have been accepted. Any item that passes a doorman is now considered to have been received by the gateway computer and hence also by its registered owner. Most doormen also incorporate _bodyguards_. *doormat*: (n) an ineffective _doorman_. *download from/to*: (v) _download from_ means to copy data off a data source such as a net; _download to_ means to copy data to such a data source. Download to has completely replaced the now-obsolete _upload to_, which fell out of use as the hierarchical (and psychological) distinctions between large (central, multiuser) and small (personal) computers vanished in the late 1990s. *dwarfing*: (n) a common method for including _source_ information in digital files by reducing the information packet greatly in size and embedding it in some other part of the data. As dwarfing often involves actual data compression as well, it is one of the more difficult forms of hidden sourcing to recover. *e-* : prefix for electronic; used generally as a synonym for on- line and specifically to differentiate something from its off-line counterpart; e.g., an _e-zine_ would normally refer to a zine that has no real-world counterpart. *e-cash*: (n) digital money. Coins and bills are ordinarily used only for very small purchases and also on the black market. *e-pub_: (n) an electronic publisher, as distinct from a _p&t publisher_. *Federal Name Repository*: (n) federal name bank for generating and storing the digital signatures (encryption keys) that replaced social security numbers as of 2009. The government now generates a pair of keys for every child as soon as its birth is registered; the public key serves the same functions as the old social-security number and in addition is used to encode certain data throughout an individual's life that will be accessible to that person only. The child's private key is kept under wraps at the FNR until his or her 18th birthday, at which point it is turned over to that individual alone. *fortune hunt*: (n, v) a search for hidden information in data files (such as e-catalogs, e-zines, and e-books) that entitles the finder to a prize. These are in vogue among puzzle enthusiasts generally but nowhere near as popular or lucrative as the _autolotts_. *genealogy*: (n) a new specialty within the field of art history and criticism, genealogy consists of interpreting artistic trends and developments by tracing the ramifications of _source_ lists through different generations of image transfer, duplication, alteration, etc. Genealogists tend to be looked down on by traditional art historians because most of their data are inherently unreliable. *Generics*: (n) an e-zine published by the _Municipal Dump_ and featuring the theory and practice of generic art. In the 1990s, the activities of the Museum of Forgery and others brought about a shift in focus from brand-name art (e.g., Leonardo's Mona Lisa) to generic categories of art (e.g., "mona- lisas"; that is, works related to the Mona Lisa). Each issue of _Generics_ normally has a person, style, period, or individual work as its theme, and generic works created by artists on that theme are published. Making appropriate attributions (rather than listing works under the names of their actual creators) is a central activity of _Generics_. As a rule, issues are updated annually; the two most popular issues, on baldessaris and posthumous duchamps, run over 1000 pages of hardcopy apiece. *hibachi*: (n) a photograph known or presumed to have been altered; much in use by the legal profession. The term came into use in the late 1990s, often sarcastically, when a series of court cases hinging on disputed photographic evidence led to severe restrictions on the use of photographs (and later videos) as evidence. The phrase traces back to a remark by a Vietnam War general, William Westmoreland, who dismissed a famous photograph of napalmed Vietnamese children running down a road as a "hibachi accident." *homebase*: (n) the original source of data or other information, usually presumed to be a guarantee that it is unaltered and/or of high quality. Early concerns about the need to protect against data piracy through more stringent copyright laws vanished when it became clear that people were willing to pay for homebase material in order to protect themselves against corrupt or infected files. (It was actually possible to market homebase material for some time before the advent of _dogtags_ and _e-cash_ made it really practical to do so.) *hulk*: (n) also: Hulk. An ineffective _bodyguard_. The term comes from the name of Hulk Hogan, a one-time professional wrestler; the implication is that a hulk looks like it's doing its job but does not do any real damage to its opponent. Hulk replaces the formerly popular _bureaucrat. *hypgnostic*: (n) variant spelling of _hypnostic_. *hypnostic*: (n) a computer program that can induce varying levels of hypnosis or trance states in the user under controlled conditions. Usually in the form of rapidly metamorphosing, often geometric images combined with a sound track, hypnostics are an outgrowth of research into the long-term neurological effects of screen-saver programs. Although they have become popular adjuncts to meditation, therapy, and recreational drug use, there is continuing controversy over parallel military research that has led to the development of programs that can induced severe disorientation, hallucination, phobia, catatonia, schizophrenia, and other forms of mental breakdown. Hypnostics are also implicated in the premature development of cataracts, and most regular hypnostics users suffer from semi-permanent facial tics in the region of the eyes. *interrupt*: (n, a) used to signal that a data transmission will not go through as requested or will be terminated before completion; normally followed by reason for the interrupt. *kunstmorph*: (n, v) an activity in which one chooses two artworks and creates a metamorphic sequence between them. Most popular as a digital process, it is also a common off-line activity among the craft _clans._ *lockin*: (n, a) a part of cyberspace to which one has a password. Similarly, to _lock in_ (v) means to give someone a cyberpass. *lockout*: (n) any part of cyberspace to which one does not have the password. Similarly, to _lock out_ (v). *MD Pound*: (n) a recycling center run by the _Municipal Dump_ in most major cities to which anyone can bring artworks for destruction, exchange, or recycling. MD Pounds work on an exchange principle; for every pound of materials one donates, one is entitled to take away an equivalent poundage. They grew out of the environmental aesthetic, which recognized that artists who created much more than they destroyed were guilty of a form of littering. The MD Pound logo features the mustaches of Salvador Dali, a notably prolific 20th century surrealist. *Municipal Dump*: (n) an institution formed by the Macarthur Foundation in 2117 to act as a clearinghouse for nonobject artists. The name comes from the common slang used to denote museums generally and New York's Metropolitan Museum in particular ("municipal dump" replaced the formerly popular "mausoleum"). The MD's main functions include maintaining a digital database of artworks, publishing _Generics_, and distributing _diy forgeries_. The MD also maintains MD Pounds_ in major cities. The MD logo features the mustache-and-goatee from Marcel Duchamp's famous _L.H.O.O.Q. _ One occasionally sees MD referred to as M2_D2_ because of a prevailing belief that the institution's "secret" name is Marcel Duchamp's Municipal Dump. *name bank*: (n) 1. a repository for generating, distributing, and storing public and private keys for data encryption 2. a registry for digital signatures. As money became fully electronic at the turn of the century, banks took over the business of security for their customers' digital signatures. Eventually, due in part to the proliferation of competing public- key encryption schemes, Congress moved to restrict name banks to three: one for government transactions, one for business transactions, and one for personal transactions. Most people have keys in at least two of the three banks. (See also: _Federal Name Repository._) *no-interrupt*: (n, a) used to signal that a data transmission will go through as requested; compare _interrupt_. *picon*: (n) short for *p*ersonal *icon*, a picon is a graphical or other data-generated stand-in for an individual, much used in place of names, signatures, and/or photos on vidphones, nets, and elsewhere. Picons can be protected under trademark law only if they are registered in the National Picon Database, in order to avoid multiple instances of the same picon. However, they are not accepted by the government or for legal purposes in lieu of dogtags. (The corporate equivalent of a picon is a logo.) *p&t*: (a) also: pnt. short for *p*oint *&_ *t*ouch, p&t refers to things that are tangible or real-world as opposed to intangible (hyperspatial, cyberspatial, mental). Generally used as a shorthand for object-oriented; e.g., a _p&t publisher_ as opposed to an _e-pub_. Often used to imply that something is old-fashioned, as in _his artwork is real p&t stuff_. *source*: (v) to source means to give credit to one's sources of materials, especially those being substantially altered. Sourcing became a widespread norm even before the death of copyright meant that one could source one's materials without fear of being sued for copyright infringement. Some people advocate making sourcing a legal requirement, but because that would obviously be unenforceable and because source data are often unverifiable, this movement has never really gotten off the ground. Accurate sourcing is a point of pride for most artists, and since source lists (or genealogies) can become quite long and complex, a number of ingenious ways of either hiding them or displaying them have been developed. (See: genealogy, transparency._) *source hunt*: (n, v) an attempt to recover hidden source information in a data file. Source hunting became popular among puzzle enthusiasts and was a precursor of the now more generally popular _fortune hunt._ Many filemakers, especially artists, offer prizes to source hunters to spur general interest in their work. *Tertian*: (n, a) originally: Orbis Tertian. Tertians are members of Orbis Tertius, an unusual _clan_ linked by the common project of realizing a special edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ mentioned in Jorge Luis Borges's short story "Tlšn, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." In Borges's story, a certain edition of the Britannica contains extra entries that refer to another world, intriguing details of which are given in the story. Orbis Tertius was founded by a group of writers specifically to alter the _Britannica_ in conformity with Borges's story, and the Tertians subsequently continued to extend the fiction at great length. It was a court case arising out of the activities of the Tertians that led to the final extinction of copyright law when the _Britannica's_ publishers lost their attempt to bar the Tertians from altering the encyclopedia without permission. _Homebase_ editions of the Tertian Encyclopedia are consistent bestsellers (subscribers are entitled to get it updated on request). *tilde* (*~*): printer's mark, adopted for use to signify that material is free of all restrictions on alteration, copying, publication, etc., including the normal convention of _sourcing. *transparency*: (n) a common form for source information to be included in digital files, especially object-oriented image files. Transparencies are a layer of information included in a file and assigned an object color of transparent (or background, paper, etc.). To recover them, one must know how to search for invisible objects in such files, a procedure that varies from application to application. (See also: _dwarfing_, _source hunt._) *wormfare*: (n) electronically based warfare, especially attacks directed at the computer command and control structures of other nations, as by net wildlife. *wormfood*: (n) any computer software or hardware that is poorly protected against intrusion from worms, viruses, and other net wildlife. :File end DDE2030.12.17.20:21:53GMT -- Mike Godwin, (202) 347-5400 |"And walk among long dappled grass, mnemonic@eff.org | And pluck till time and times are done Electronic Frontier | The silver apples of the moon, Foundation | The golden apples of the sun." Date: Mon, 27 Dec 93 23:31:07 EST From: fnerd@smds.com (FutureNerd Steve Witham) Subject: Re: The Cyber Lexicon of 2030 AD *Fuse*: (n) 1) Software or hardware to isolate a net, system or subsystem in the event of detection of a security or resource use problem. 2) reputation. *Crowbar*: (n) Type of _cannibal_ that, on detecting a security or resource use problem, blows _fuses_ in outside systems by flooding communications channels with noise, triggering security checks in other systems, and/or exhausting bank accounts, credit lines and stores of _e-cash_. The effect of a crowbar is harder to reset by a presumed intruder than that of an internal fuse. A countermeasure to _mug shots_. *Mug Shots*: (n) Backups of the state of a system to allow repeated attempts at cracking it. A countermeasure to _cannibals_. *Runaway*: (n) Endless echoing of messages caused by bugs in routing software. Usually refers to a bug that exacerbates its own trigger conditions, such as traffic level or lack of storage space. -fnerd@smds.com ~ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3a aKxB8nktcBAeQHabQP/d7yhWgpGZBIoIqII8cY9nG55HYHgvtoxiQCVAgUBLMs3K ui6XaCZmKH68fOWYYySKAzPkXyfYKnOlzsIjp2toust1Q5A3/n54PBKrUDN9tHVz 3Ch466q9EKUuDulTU6OLsilzmRvQJn0EJhzd4pht6hanC0R3seYNhUYhoJViCcCG sRjLQs4iVVM= =9wqs -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----